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Greetings to another evening of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, including three English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.